Field
This disclosure relates to logistics, aggregation of data and bidding for logistics handling. More specifically, the disclosure relates to data aggregation useful in associating the availability of a driver or transportation resources with demand for transportation in providing Less than Truckload (LTL) shipments and other multi-segment transportation services.
Background
Shipping has historically been executed through a variety of private Transportation Service Providers (TSPs) as carriers, in which the TSPs use different business models. Also included are large trucking companies, owner-operators, private fleet carriers, courier and shipment consolidation companies and shipment transport companies following other business models. There are differences in transport capabilities, such as non-bulk cargo (boxes and pallets), bulk, liquid, reefer (refrigerated cargo), flatbeds and cargo container frames. In addition, there are varying capacities within each category.
For purposes of transportation services, a “shipper” may be anyone who requests transportation services from a TSP. The shipper may be the entity providing goods needing transport. In the alternative, the shipper may be a party receiving goods, and who arranges for transportation services of the goods. For purposes of this disclosure, “shipper” is intended to mean anyone who commissions transportation services. If specific categories of transportation are specified, the meaning of “shipper” would be limited as required by the categories.
A Transportation Service Provider or TSP is a business entity that provides transportation. In some cases, the TSP is an independent driver (owner-operator) or similar, whereas in other cases, the TSP performs most of the contract functions in arranging for loads and scheduling. For purposes of the present disclosure and the claims, unless otherwise specified, TSPs comprise companies, mobile operators (MOs) and drivers, including independent drivers, with the terms used interchangeably. Fixed base operations, such as transportation hubs, loading docks used for transshipments and warehouses used in the transportation process would also be considered TSPs.
Typical shipping is accomplished by directly engaging a transport company, such as a package delivery service, shipping by private fleet controlled by the shipper, brokering services and other transport arrangements. In many cases, the transport is performed on a bid basis, using TSPs such as common carrier haulers. Private fleets are often established by a manufacturer, distributor or a retailer with distribution facilities, and establishes its own fleet of vehicles, as the private fleet, to meet its own transportation needs. Regardless, private fleets often provide transportation services on the open market, especially in their backhaul (return trip) capacity.
In the case of transportation on a bid basis, this is traditionally accomplished by the shipper sending requests for bids to multiple haulers, at least in the case of land-based TSPs, who function as venders of transportation services. In some cases, the shipper uses a broker or consolidator, who in turn either requests bids from haulers such as TSPs or other transportation entities or otherwise makes arrangements with haulers. Haulers, on the other hand, seek to obtain shipments in order to maximize their profit. In each case, the ability of the shipper to obtain bids and the ability of the hauler to receive bids is limited to the network and methods they use for sending and receiving bids. In such a case, a shipper and a deadheading hauler may not be aware of each other's availability.
Due to the large volume of requests for shipping quotes, the expected time savings and expected revenue generation, broker services are often used by TSPs. Broker services can use a bid process or can provide shipping rates based on pre-arranged rate schedules. In addition, the broker service accommodates availability of the TSP, so that TSPs are able to use the broker to obtain a load, and the shipping is only arranged for the TSP for times when the TSP is actually available to perform the shipping service.
Time constraints are significant factors for the parties to the shipments. The shipper is interested in meeting a time schedule for when a shipment is picked up, is in-transit and delivered. The TSPs have an interest in being able to closely match the shipper's times, including shipment times for backhaul shipments or other later shipments. The shipper is also time constrained as to work hours and expected time off from work or other obligations.
TSPs, in maximizing profit, must consider the value of a particularly profitable haul in one direction, as offset by possible losses from deadheading (running empty) on the return trip. While it is desirable to have each leg generate a profit, it may be that particular shipments in one direction along a shipping lane may be sufficiently profitable to justify either deadheading or taking a loss in the opposite direction. It may be possible to divert the TSP or the TSP's resource in order to increase the return on backhaul trips, but extending the trip time may also result in lost opportunity costs for the more profitable run. In a simplified example, a private fleet carrier may need to balance the need for vehicle availability with the desire for backhaul loads.
Some transportation entities are limited as to geographical area. This can be a matter of preference, or may relate to interstate shipping permits and availability of support facilities. In the case of the TSP being a private fleet carrier, there is often a preference to limit accepted shipments to backhaul shipments returning from in-house shipments (backhaul). In addition, transportation entities may or may not engage in international cross-border shipping.
The vehicle capabilities also must be considered. This includes the usual distinctions between chassis type, but there is also some opportunity to extend to different markets. As an example, a reefer can haul a non-refrigerated load on the backhaul. Other restraints relate to permitted vehicle sizes. By way of example, a Canadian turnpike double (configuration with two 16.2 m trailers) cannot run in the US, and a US triple (three 8.6 m trailers) is restricted from a number of states and provinces.
The shipper may have particular requirements for the shipment. In addition to requirements dictated by the type of goods, the shipper may want to check the transportation entity's reputation, may wish to perform a “pre-load check” to verify adequate insurance or an acceptable safety rating of the shipper, and may have a desire to track the shipment or provide shipment tracking information to the entity receiving the shipment.
Tracking can be achieved by discrete GPS enabled devices, or through the use of a mobile communication device for which location information is available. For most mobile location-based services implemented at the consumer level, this involves reporting GPS positioning; however, a mobile device is also tracked in the mobile network for purposes of establishing a communications handshake with the mobile telecommunications system as part of the mobile device's roaming and basic communication capability (roaming within or outside of the subscriber network). This is sometimes augmented by GPS tracking, but in many cases identifies the mobile device's location by tower and sector. For purposes of tracking the general location of a vehicle, tracking by use of a mobile device requires consent from the mobile customer. The (US) Telecommunications Act, at 47 CFR § 222, including 47 CFR § 222(f), prohibits telecommunication common carriers from accessing location information for purposes other than system operation without consent of the customer. For this reason, a procedure must be established to assure the tracking service that consent from the mobile device user was obtained. Since the driver may want to know the extent to which the tracking information is used prior to giving consent, it is sometimes not possible to determine whether the driver will accept location tracking and if the driver refuses consent, it may not be possible to obtain actual approval for a particular tracking system.
One of the problems in brokered shipments is that the broker will sometimes not have the information regarding the driver's willingness to accept location tracking. This could be a circumstance of limited communication between the broker and the driver or the driver's employer as a TSP or could be something of the nature of the extent of location tracking being unclear. For example, a driver may be willing to accept location tracking of the driver's mobile phone but only if limited to cargo tracking or only if limited to cargo tracking and other functions directly associated with the brokerage.
Shipment tracking is finding increasing use. In addition to providing rough estimates of arrival times, shippers and delivery customers often prefer to have information as to when a shipment is expected to arrive. Taken to another level, shippers prefer to have information relating to the approximate current location of the shipment. In addition to “when will the package arrive” information, current location of the shipment can give the shipper and receiver an idea if the shipment has been delayed or other information related to the shipment. Currently, limited tracking is available for package delivery services, but such information is typically given on a warehouse or depot departure and arrival basis.
In “co-brokered” shipments (one broker sources the TSP and another broker sources the shipper), the broker knows the TSP and also is able to provide this information to the shipper. In some instances, a brokered shipment is “double-brokered” and the broker that sourced the shipper does not necessarily know who the TSP is. Consequently, in “double brokered” shipments, the shipper typically does not know who the TSP is. This is considered undesirable by many shippers, and so the shipper may wish to exclude “double-brokered” bidders if the identity of the TSP is not known to the shipper. In many cases, double brokering is considered a violation of U.S. law (49 USC § 14916), which imposes an additional legal requirement for identifying the TSP to the shipper.
“Co-brokering” also involves a shipment agreed to by one broker being fulfilled by a second broker, in which case, the second broker would normally be given the identity of the TSP.
A reverse auction is a type of auction in which the roles of buyer and seller are reversed. In an ordinary auction (also known as a forward auction), buyers compete to obtain a good or service by offering increasingly higher prices. In the case of a performance bid, such as a response to a Request for Quote (RFQ) or Request for Price (RFP), the bidding does not follow the ordinary auction format. In the case of bidding by TSPs, the TSP is the bidder, whereas the shipper selects and accepts a bid. This becomes a “reverse auction” when one or more TSPs are invited to meet actual or estimated bids, because the TSP is being asked to bid a quoted amount lower than the lowest bidder.
One particular classification for shipment is “Less than Truckload” or (LTL) shipping. Typically, LTL shipments relate to cargo, but similar considerations can be applied to other types of transportation services. In long distance LTL shipment, plural shipments are consolidated into a full truckload at a hub warehouse, and the consolidated shipments are then transshipped to a second hub in a different city. From the second hub, the individual LTL shipments are delivered to their destinations. Alternatives include multiple pick-ups and/or deliveries, smaller conveyances and informal “space available” arrangements. In the case of consolidation for hub-to hub shipment, this is generally done by freight consolidators, who are transportation companies that control the hubs and transshipments, and typically also control local deliveries. Consequentially, it is difficult to participate in the LTL market on a segmented basis.
LTL shipping is generally different from package shipment in that package shipment typically involves substantially more in the way of logistics, and is better suited for small item shipment such as the equivalent of consumer catalogue orders. LTL shipping is generally of larger shipments, but which are still, as the name implies, less than a full truckload. Often these shipments are in pallets, although unpalleted goods are also shipped as LTL. LTL shipping is frequently oriented toward business-to-business shipping.
A substantial proportion of LTL shipments are handled by freight consolidators. Freight consolidators are transportation service providers (TSPS) that do the actual shipping, using their own hubs or have sharing arrangements with other consolidators. This makes it difficult to compete in LTL trucking for handling multiple LTL loads on a single trip.
Arranging to provide LTL shipping is also difficult for TSPs who are not providing transportation services for each leg because shipping of partial loads often requires corroborative efforts of TSPs for the different segments. Further complicating this is the fact that it is often unlikely that any given combination of LTL loads will need to be shipped from the same origin city to the same destination city.
Smaller load carriers offer an alternative to LTL shipping, but use smaller vehicles. Two such industry segments involves “gooseneck transportation” and “hotshot hauling”. “Gooseneck transportation” and “hotshot hauling”, offer similar services, which can involve smaller loads, thus avoiding or reducing a need to consolidate loads. These avoid the necessary logistics associated with LTL hubs and coordinating multiple LTL loads on a single trip, but also loses the scaled efficiency of using a full sized truck-semitrailer combination or multimodal transportation.